Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Credit:

NASA GSFC Landsat/LDCM EPO Team

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted, ejecting ash and
stone 80,000 feet into the air and scattering ash debris over 11 states. The eruption
killed 57 people and caused $1 billion in damages. In this before-and-after image pair
vegetation is red. On the left-hand image the snow-covered Mount St. Helens can be
seen in the image center. On the right-hand image the immense ash plume left by the
eruption spills northward from the volcano. A massive new caldera can be seen where
the mountaintop once stood.

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